BILL ANALYSIS AB 1224 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 27, 2009 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION Mike Eng, Chair AB 1224 (Eng) - As Amended: April 14, 2009 SUBJECT : Vehicles: hit and run violations: animals SUMMARY : Requires a driver involved in an accident resulting in an injury to a dog, a cat, or livestock to immediately stop the vehicle at the nearest location that will not jeopardize safety and comply with specific notification requirements. Specifically, this bill : 1)Requires a driver involved in an accident resulting in an injury to a dog, a cat, or livestock to immediately stop the vehicle at the nearest location that will not impede traffic or otherwise jeopardize the safety of other motorists and do the following: a) Immediately notify a local agency or animal control of the city wherein the collision occurred or the California Highway Patrol, if the collision occurred in unincorporated territory; and, b) Notify the animal owner or person in charge and provide the name and address of the driver and owner of the vehicle involved and upon being requested, provide driver's license and vehicle registration information. 2)Provides that if a parked vehicle becomes a runaway vehicle and is involved in an accident resulting in injury to a dog, a cat, or livestock, the vehicle owner or driver is required to comply with the above mentioned provisions. 3)Provides that a violation of the above mentioned provisions is punishable by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100) for a first offense and by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than two hundred dollars ($200) for a second and each subsequent offense. EXISTING LAW: 1)Requires the driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting only in damage to any property, including vehicles AB 1224 Page 2 to immediately stop the vehicle at the nearest location that will not impede traffic or otherwise jeopardize the safety of other motorists. Specifies that moving the vehicle will not affect the question of fault. 2)Requires a person to locate and notify the owner or person in charge of the damaged property and provide the name and address of the driver and owner of the vehicle involved and present his or her driver's license and vehicle registration to the other driver, property owner, or person in charge of that property. 3)Requires a person to leave in a conspicuous place on the vehicle or other property damaged, a written notice giving the name and address of the driver and of the owner of the vehicle involved, a statement of the circumstances, and notify the police department where the incident occurred or the California Highway Patrol, if the collision occurred in unincorporated territory. 4)Provides that any person failing to comply with all the requirements of these provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction will be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by both that imprisonment and fine. 5)Requires a driver to render to any person injured in the accident reasonable assistance, including transporting or making arrangements for transporting an injured person to a hospital for medical or surgical treatment if needed. 6)Provides that the penalty for fleeing the scene of an accident resulting in injury is either a felony or misdemeanor, punishable by 16 months, two or three years in state prison or up to one year in the county jail and/or a fine between $1,000 and $10,000. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill seeks to "address an area of law that is not well pronounced or clear, as it relates to specific guidelines that a driver must abide by in the event that there is a collision with an animal." AB 1224 Page 3 Under existing law, the driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting only in damage to any property is to immediately stop the vehicle at the nearest location that will not impede traffic or otherwise jeopardize the safety of other motorists and proceed to locate and notify the owner or person in charge of that property. If the owner is not present, the driver must leave in a conspicuous place on the damaged property, a written notice giving the name and address of the driver and of the owner of the vehicle involved and a statement of the circumstances thereof. In both instances, the driver is also required to notify the police department of the city wherein the collision occurred without delay. The author states that current law "provisions do not make its applicability specific to dogs, cats or livestock, thus there have been instances where local law enforcement has not applied current provisions to the injury of animals, as was witnessed in a recent local case." That incident prompted a constituent of the author to introduce this proposal, eventually becoming the author's winner of "there outta be a law contest." The constituent points out that after informing police of a hit and run incident involving a dog and providing the license plate number of the vehicle was told nothing could be done. Currently, New York state law contains a separate subsection related to driver reporting guidelines involving collisions that lead to damaged property and one related to the injury of animals. In addition to making a distinction between property and animals, a different fine structure also exist under each section. This bill attempts to mirror New York state law by providing for a separate subsection and fine structure related to the injury to animals and to the damage of property while driving. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support United Animal Nations Opposition AB 1224 Page 4 None on file Analysis Prepared by : Alejandro Esparza / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093